"Anon."
Seeing that things couldn't be avoided, Soyo could only put on a somewhat awkward smile and look at the girls in front of her.
"You're not seriously believing the nonsense in the anime, right?"
"Anime is anime, reality is reality—how can they be treated the same?"
However, this time, Soyo's usual "cutting line" didn't work so well.
"I believe it,"
Anon looked at Soyo and said with certainty.
"I completely believe it!"
"A-Anon, why are you joking like this too?"
Soyo let out a dry laugh, trying to muddle through.
But seeing the unchanged expressions and those piercing gazes from the girls in front of her, she immediately panicked.
"Th-this isn't right, is it?"
"Today… who… who's trying to set me up?"
Her eyes darted around before finally landing on Kamijou Mutsuki.
"Mutsuki, you made that anime to frame me, didn't you?"
"The anime is for reference only. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental."
"See, Anon—"
Hearing Kamijou Mutsuki's reply, Soyo felt as if she had finally found a lifeline in the crowd, her eyes lighting up.
"Even Mutsuki-kun said—"
"So, you've never wanted to revive CRYCHIC, right?"
However, Anon's simple counter-question instantly silenced her.
"You joined MyGO!!!!! sincerely, and you truly feel happy being with me—with everyone, right?"
Soyo was completely speechless.
Facing Anon's expectant questioning, she simply couldn't bring herself to say something against her heart.
"I'm sorry, Anon."
Soyo lowered her head slightly and spoke softly.
"I really do want to revive CRYCHIC, but—"
"So you admit it—you want to revive CRYCHIC!"
Hearing this, the last trace of hope in Anon's eyes finally went out.
In truth, she had already known for a long time that Kamijou Mutsuki's anime was a prediction of the future—a timeline without someone's interference.
However, out of trust in her bandmates, Anon had still held onto a trace of hope for Soyo.
And now, that hope had been extinguished by Soyo herself.
She cut Soyo off directly, her voice slipping slightly out of control as she spoke.
"I…"
It was the first time Soyo had ever been questioned like this—and by Anon, someone she considered a friend, someone who had always seemed so gentle.
Even Mom has never spoken to me in such a loud voice!
The girl immediately showed a wronged expression, her eyes misting over.
"I just… miss Saki so much. I miss CRYCHIC so much."
"It was the first time I felt that kind of warmth with CRYCHIC. After it disbanded… I was really scared."
"I just want to go back to that once-happy us… I don't want to keep enduring that kind of pain."
"But MyGO!!!!! is also important to me. I'm part of MyGO!!!!! too, right? The members of a band should understand each other…"
"When you wanted to revive CRYCHIC, did you ever think about the fact that you're part of MyGO!!!!!?"
Anon was actually a very gentle girl, with delicate and soft emotions. But this time, she simply couldn't empathize with Soyo.
Because what Soyo wanted—was, in itself, a betrayal of her.
The happiness Soyo longed for didn't include her or Raana at all.
"Having a member like you in MyGO!!!!!… what a lifetime experience."
It was clearly a five-person band, yet she and Raana felt like outsiders.
"If it weren't for Mutsuki, I'd still be kept in the dark even now."
Anon let out a soft sigh, looking somewhat disheartened.
"Even just now… you were still trying to lie to me…"
"I...I wasn't trying to lie to you!"
At first, she had planned to confess everything—but the atmosphere had been too tense. In her panic, she instinctively denied it, even trying to run away.
"And besides, I was doing it for the harmony of the band…"
Soyo instinctively tried to justify herself.
"The harmony of the band?"
Soyo's words were like lighting a fuse. Anon, whose emotions had just barely settled, suddenly stood up again.
"MyGO!!!!! was formed by me and Mutsuki."
"The entire band—all five of us—rests on our shoulders!"
"We—and everyone else—are constantly thinking about how to make the band better."
"And what about you? You tried to use MyGO!!!!! to revive CRYCHIC."
"You don't get to talk about 'band harmony'!"
"..."
Soyo hadn't expected Anon's words to be this sharp. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
"Anon… I admit I was wrong before. I apologize."
After a brief silence, Soyo spoke.
"You can punish me however you want."
"But all I wanted was to rebuild CRYCHIC."
She just wanted to bring back the band from before—what was wrong with that?
"So why do you have to keep pressing me like this?"
In Soyo's view, CRYCHIC and MyGO!!!!! weren't mutually exclusive—they could coexist.
All that was needed was for her, Tomori, and Taki to join both bands at the same time.
Then the seven of them together—double the happiness—wouldn't that be great?
Why couldn't Anon understand that?
"Just want to rebuild CRYCHIC?"
However, Anon, who didn't know about Soyo's "I want it all" plan, couldn't help but laugh in anger upon hearing that.
You were planning to use MyGO!!!!! as a shell to resurrect something else, kick her aside—and now you're blaming her for not letting it go?
"Go on, stir things up."
"Just keep stirring!"
"Stir until the band falls apart, until no one's on the same page!"
"Stir until MyGO!!!!! disbands!"
"Then you can revive your precious CRYCHIC, right?"
"At worst, I'll just run off to study in the UK again—people laughing at me is nothing!"
"Ano-chan…"
Hearing Anon's somewhat self-destructive words, even Tomori couldn't sit still anymore, looking worried as she grabbed her sleeve.
"That's not what I meant!"
Only now did Soyo realize she hadn't explained herself clearly, and quickly spoke up.
"Rebuilding CRYCHIC doesn't necessarily mean disbanding MyGO!!!!!."
"The two can coexist, can't they?"
"In theory, one person can belong to two bands at the same time."
"Like Umiri—hasn't she also played bass in multiple bands?"
MyGO!!!!! and CRYCHIC coexisting?
Hearing this, Tomori and Taki both fell into thought.
The biggest conflict between them and Soyo had been that they would never abandon MyGO!!!!!—nor Anon and Raana—for the sake of reviving CRYCHIC.
Although they no longer had any intention of reviving CRYCHIC now, at least the tension wasn't as sharp as before.
....................